For undocumented migrants, seeking a better life in a foreign country often entails enormous risks. In Europe, thousands of people have died attempting to enter the continent via leaky, unseaworthy boats. In a single incident in 2013, over 300 migrants drowned when their boat capsized off the island of Lampedusa, near Italy. Pope Francis decried this event as a ‘disgrace’ and condemned the ‘global indifference’ to the plight of migrants1. Closer to home, undocumented migrants who enter South Africa face perils such as drowning, robbery, rape and even wild animal attacks while crossing the border. Two recent Round Table discussions, hosted by the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office in collaboration with the Scalabrini Centre and the Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa2, brought together a wide array of practitioners working within the fields of family law and human migration to engage with these issues.